Human Nature
by Jetfire
Summary: This is an Essay I did for English Class concerning the analysis of Goldings' message in Lord of the Flies


Lord of the Flies  
Written by William Golding, Lord of the Flies is a story about a small group of boys who become stranded on an island without parental guidance. Out of all the boys on the island, Ralph, Jack, Piggy, and Simon stand out as the main characters. Golding uses the various personalities of these characters to express the theme of the novel. The main theme of The Lord of the Flies is that the roots of all drawbacks are traced to human nature.  
Ralph is the first of the boys that is introduced in the story. The first time we get any depth of his character is in his first encounter with Piggy. Every time Piggy pelts him with questions, Ralph retains his cool. An example of his calm exterior is when Piggy questions the way they are to be rescued. Instead of racking his brain for a definite answer, Ralph calmly replies, "My Dad's a commander in the Navy. When he gets leave he'll come and rescue us."(Pg11) Ralph also revealed that he has little tolerance for fear. This was first revealed when Piggy tried to tell Ralph about his asthma. Instead of taking Piggy's health into consideration, Ralph just said, "Sucks to your ass-mar!" (Pg11) Ralph's second and much larger dislike of fear was discovered when one of the little ones brought up the subject of the "beastie." Ralph's natural leadership skills told him that there couldn't be unity among the boys if fear is among them. To keep the boys calm, he not only denied the existence of the beastie, but he told the boys, "But this is a good island, it's wizard. We can have a lot of fun on it while we are waiting to be rescued." (Page 30)  
  
Unbeknownst to Ralph, however, it is his over-idealistic belief that everything was fine and peaceful that would become his undoing. While he was indeed clever in concluding that he must avoid the exposure of fear to the boys, he failed to realize the fatal consequences of shutting out the possibilities of a "beastie." It was not until the death of Simon that Ralph realized that he could not run from the beast forever. Unlike Piggy, who suggested that Simon's death was and accident, Ralph claimed, "That was murder!" (Page 145) Although Simon's death showed Ralph that he could not run from the beast, it was the death of Piggy that showed Ralph that the beast, was in fact, man's own dark nature. He realized this tragic truth too late to do anything about it however. Golding seems to use Ralph as an image for the piece of society that wishes to ignore the real danger and brutal violence that the "bullies" of the world possess. Golding displays the folly of such thinking by showing the horrible things that happen to Ralph's friends because he refused to acknowledge the existence of the beast. It took the death of two innocent kids to wake Ralph up from his blinded, idealistic state. Ralph's personality can be easily compared to the 9/11 incident. The attack on the Twin Towers "woke us up" to the fact that there were some real terrorists who were willing to make the effort to fly over to our continent and crash into our buildings. It was a painful price, but it reminded us that we can't sit back while evil wipes out other nations one after another. In short the primary message that Golding expresses through Ralph is the fact that evil reigns when the good does nothing.  
  
The second main character in this novel is Jack. Unlike Ralph who is more relaxed and carefree, Jack is aggressive, ruthless, and power hungry. The first time we see Jack, he is carrying a knife. This suggests that he has a violent atmosphere. He was put in charge of the hunters when Ralph saw that he wanted to be in charge. Surprisingly, when Jack and his hunters finally found a pig to kill, he hesitated. Something inside of him forbade him to kill this innocent creature. It was here that Jack revealed that he has an arrogant atmosphere when he tried to make up excuses as to why he did not kill the pig. His best excuse was, "I was just waiting for a moment to decide where to stab him." Jack's more brutal side appeared when he overheard the rumor of the "beastie." Unlike Ralph who completely denied the "beastie's" existence, Jack said, "There is no snake thing and if there was we would hunt it and kill it!" (Page 32) This is the first hint we receive that Jack would eventually rebel from Ralph's rule and form his own group. Shortly after Jack formed his "tribe" of boys, he is seen hunting a pig while wearing face paint. Jack had convinced his tribe that by wearing "masks" they are free to do what ever they wish because no one can "see their faces." But what really makes this scene interesting is the fact that contrary to the last time they hunted a pig, they not only killed it, they brutally slaughtered it. After stabbing the creature in every area that did not leak blood, they cut its head off and placed it on a stick as an offering to the beast. It is here that Jack has officially lost his mind. Instead of hunting for the creature he intended to kill, he now worships it. In fact, he became so entangled with the thrill he received from his own violent and brutal ways that he failed to notice that he and the rest of his "tribe" had murdered Simon during their "Tribal War Dance." It should be noted that Jack had no guilt concerning the death of Simon. He believed that because there was no civilized world, the gloves were off and he can do anything he wished. Jack continued his brutal ways until a naval officer rescued the boys. Jack has a number of symbolic meanings. Golding could have intended Jack to portray the folly of always looking for a violent solution to everything. Although Jack's methods of finding and killing the beast are more logical and effective than Ralph's methods of ignoring it and denying its existence, his violent tactics come with a price as well. While not suffering from the same naïve atmosphere that Ralph is in, he still pays his own price for thinking on the opposite side of reasoning when he became buried in his own brutal violence to the point where he lost himself to it. His humanity was replaced with his brutality and because of that, he became a heartless savage. Another thing that Golding could have intedned to show through Jack is the lunacy that comes with the thought process of believing that there is no consequence for our actions. Such a claim can be backed up by the fact that Jack wore face paint so he could be "free" from his conscience. He believed that if no one could see his face than there was no punishment for the crimes he might commit. It should be noted that this exact same logic is still used in the US today. People in New Orleans do the same thing during the Mardi Gras. Some of the people who participate in this celebration believe that God can't "see" them with their masks on and therefore are unafraid to publicly undress and commit adultery. This logic is nothing new, which testifies to the Scriptures' claim in Eccleasties; "nothing is new under the sun."  
  
It is very interesting how Jack suddenly stops his savage ways as soon as the adults arrive on the scene. It seems the precence of parental athority snapped his mind back into reality. This is exactly what will happen to people how fail to recognize the authority of God. The Bible promises that everyone will bow before the Lord. This scene could be the symbolic event of such a thing. Piggy is the third main character of the story. From the moment he was introduced it was obvious that Piggy was the type of individual who needed others in order to survive. He is constantly asking questions about how they were supposed to be rescued and what to do about his asthma. He heavily values order and that fact was revealed when he said, "We ought to make a list of their names and have a meeting." (Page 9) Piggy also made it apparent that he expected everyone to obey the rules. For example, one of their rules was that who ever had the conch had the right to speak. There are numerous occasions in which Piggy is heard saying, "I have the conch! I've got the right to speak!" (Page 40) Piggy has a brutal but interesting demise. While he was busy barking rules at Jack's tribe he was hit by a massive boulder that was meant for Ralph, who dodged the stone at the last second. Just as his head split open, the conch, the instrument of order, broke into pieces. This plays a crucial part in Golding's purpose for him.  
  
Piggy is the part of society that acts as a "parasite." He constantly needs care and never has anything of his own to contribute. This can be easily compared to people who abuse the advantages of welfare. They sit back and slack off while feeding off people who work. But the main thing that Golding expresses through Piggy is the folly reciting the law to the lawless instead of showing them the will to enforce the law. Piggy's belief that rules alone would protect him cost him his life. While he was busy barking the rules at Jack's men they did not disarm. Instead they threw a boulder at him and killed him. Such an illustration can be used against pacifism and war protestors. If a man arrives at a battlefield with an anti-war sign in front of a tank, the tank driver won't leave, but he will run him over. Simon is the most interesting character in the story. It is possible that Golding intended Simon to be a Christ like character. There are several similarities between both characters. For example, Jesus wandered in the wilderness alone and Simon is seen wandering thought the jungle alone. Jesus was killed by the people he had come to deliver from sin and Simon was killed by the people he came to warn about the beast. Simon understood what the beast more than anyone and Christ understood Satan's ways more than anyone else. Jesus told His disciples that they should be of good cheer and Simon told Ralph, "You'll get off this island." These are just some of the similarities between Christ and Simon. Simon's encounter with the beastie is most interesting. Unlike the rest of the boys, Simon realized that it was man's own human nature that gave this creature life. While the physical form, of the creature was a hallucination it was an accurate insight to what the beast really was- the dark side of man's heart. William Golding does a nice job using symbolic literature to express a point using the main characters. This was very nicely written and you can learn a lot from theses characters. This book does an excellent job at showing just how fast the human race brings ruin wherever it roams. Overall I'd say this is a good piece of work. 


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